Kitchen Counters

In case you missed the news, we will be closing on our new house in less than 2 weeks!  One of the things that we want to update is the kitchen.  It's not terrible in its current condition, but we have some ideas to make it work a little better for us.  So you can see what we're working with, this is the view from the breakfast room.  

We are going to get new appliances, make the island bigger, remove the bar-height level counters, and also reconfigure the wrap-around counter to make it more open.  We will also be refinishing and staining the hardwoods a darker color.  We plan to leave the white cabinets. 

But the biggest debate in our house apartment right now is the new counter tops.  We've narrowed it down to two options -- Option #1 is white marble and Option #2 is honed absolute black granite.  (Since it really boils down to either black or white, I always seem to get Michael Jackson's "Black or White" song stuck in my head.)    

Here's the breakdown of the dilemma:

• I love love love white marble counters with white cabinets.  Visually speaking, they are always my favorite kitchens.  (My pinterest page has been full of them for a very long time.)  It's safe to say, I like the look of white marble counters more than black.  But I don't dislike the look of the black counters.
• White marble has a tendency to etch, stain, and chip.  I have done substantial research on this, and think I'm ok with a less than perfect finish (or patina -- which doesn't make it sound so bad) over time.  Given these issues associated with white marble, Justin prefers the black granite over the white marble.
• The black granite is substantially cheaper than the white marble.  
• I've thought about doing the island in the white marble and the remainder in black granite, but don't really like the look of that since the island isn't very substantial (and has the stove).   

And for visualization purposes, here are some amazing kitchens with both black and white counters with white cabinets.

Source: tiekbuilthomes.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: awelldressedhome.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: caitlincreer.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: peppermintbliss.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Emily on Pinterest

So readers, do you have a preference?  What are your thoughts?  Does anyone have either of these counters and wish to share some of their thoughts on them?

We bought a house!

I mentioned here that I would be back to share our anniversary present to each other.  Nothing gets by Cassie, and she totally guessed it.  We found the perfect house!  And it's (almost) ours!  We could not be more excited!   

So this has been in the works for a couple of weeks now, but I didn't want to say anything before it was official.  We are past the inspection and the appraisal . . . so now we just have to wait until we close at the end of the month.  In the meantime, here's a little teaser picture from the entry hall we snapped during the inspection. 

Couple of fun facts about this house:

(1)  It is literally right next to this house (the one we had the back up contract on and didn't get).  How fun will be to get to know those next door neighbors?   The house we had the back up contract on was great, but neither Justin nor I were ever super pumped about it, but we LOVED the street.  Our new house is amazing and we are totally pumped about it, and it's on the same street we loved so much.  So now we get the best of both worlds.  Winning.

(2)  We put an offer on the house and were under contract about 12 hours after it was listed.  My mom was driving by the other house when there was still a chance it would be ours and noticed the for sale sign in front of house number 2.  She called to tell me, and frankly, I thought she was crazy because it wasn't showing up on the market.  I told her maybe it was a contractors sign, but she proved me wrong and called the realtor.  He said he had just put up the for sale sign that afternoon and it would be listed at midnight.  But that if we wanted to see it the next day, we could go ahead and schedule a time.  So we did -- we were already seeing another house in the area that morning anyway.  We knew right away that we loved it.  So we put an offer on it right after we got back to our offices that morning.  They countered about an hour later and it was a done deal!

The house needs some cosmetic updates, and we are meeting with some contractors to talk about remodeling the kitchen and bathroom.  The good news is hopefully there will soon be some great before and after pictures.  I am excited to share the progress along the way with y'all.  We cannot wait to make the house our own!   
       

Happy Anniversary!

So I'm a couple of days early, but Tuesday is our 8th wedding anniversary.  I really cannot believe I've been married to my wonderful husband 8 years (and he's put up with me for that long).  Time flies when you're having fun! 

Instead of telling you all how amazing my husband is (which he is) or how much I love him (a lot), I thought I would share one of my favorite memories from our wedding reception.  Surprisingly, it was when he removed my garter.  His friends convinced him to put a lace thong (that they picked up at Wal-Mart) up his sleeve and pull that out instead of my actual garter (without me having any idea, of course).  I should have known something was up since all of the guys were paying very close attention.  Look at those faces. 

I had no clue that he was going to do this, and when I realized what was happening, was embarrassed at first.  Then quickly thought it was hilarious.  And also wondered immediately what my grandma would think.  Thankfully, she was not offended!  

I love seeing how funny the guys thought it was.  Sheer and utter delight.     

 

And my sweet husband giving me a kiss and apologizing for the little surprise.  Clearly, I was very upset.

Thankfully our marriage has still been full of these fun moments together (though not necessarily of him removing a thong -- get your mind out of the gutter, people)!    

Hope you guys had a great weekend.  I'll be back very soon to share our anniversary present to each other!  It's a good one!  

Paris Map - Z Gallerie Style.

Remember my inexpensive Paris map art?  If not, we framed a piece of wrapping paper from the Paper Source that was less than $4.00 in a cheap Ikea Ribba frame. 

Well imagine my surprise when I saw this at Z Gallerie the other day.  (Excuse the crappy iphone pics.)   The Z Gallerie version is substantially smaller because it doesn't have the thick mat, but otherwise, it's exactly the same! 

The price was $59.95 -- double what we paid for our "DIY" map!  

 
I actually like ours better, not only because it was cheaper, but because of the matting and its overall larger size.  Note to self:  If I like a piece of framed art at Z Gallerie, double check that Paper Source doesn't have the same wrapping paper that can be framed for much cheaper!

Hope y'all are having a great week! 
    

San Diego - Trip #1.

Sorry for the radio silence.  Things have been crazy busy around here . . . more details on that in the next post.  But before this post becomes even more overdue, I had to share pictures from our trip to San Diego in early May.  (We actually went back to San Diego last weekend, but I will do a separate post about that trip, which involves a surprise wedding!  See, I told you I've been busy!)

For our first trip out to San Diego, we went with only one goal in mind -- to meet and love on Henry, my best friend's precious new baby.  (See the details of his baby shower here.)  Of course it's no surprise, but he is a beautiful baby. 

Henry was a perfect angel the entire time we were there.  We had our big outing and meal of the day around lunch time, which worked perfectly with his schedule.  Henry got quite the tour of San Diego while we were there.

One afternoon, we headed to the embarcadero to enjoy the scenery.  It was pretty cool to go there for several reasons, but maybe the coolest was because the last time Lauren and Jacob were there, Lauren was walking up and down the stairs (you can barely see them in the first photo) trying to encourage Henry to make his appearance since he was nearly a week late!   

The next day we headed to Coronado island and had lunch at the hotel. 

We were also happy to be a part of Henry's first trip to In-N-Out.  Lauren had to put a napkin over Henry's head so the delicious sauce from the burger wouldn't drip on him while he was in the Moby!  

When we weren't out and about, we did a lot of staring at Henry.  It never got old.

Justin was on this trip too!  He just happened to be the one taking most of the pictures.  I did manage to get this one of him and Henry on my iphone.

 
Look at his hair!  It is so long!  

These are some of my favorite pictures of Henry with his mom.  How cute is it that they both have on their gray and white stripes? 

And here's a picture of Henry from today.  His hair is parted just like his dad's!  It kills me.  Such a beautiful baby!  

 
While we've loved visiting Lauren and Jacob in San Diego over the years, I am super excited that, as of last weekend, they have moved back to Texas!  I will be able to hang out with Henry so much more now!  (Oh yeah, and Lauren and Jacob too!) 

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!  I am hoping to have some time this week to catch up on some much overdue blog reading!

House Hunt Update.

Last week I updated you on our house hunt.  For those of you who want the short and sweet update, we didn't get the house.

For those of you want some more details . . . we heard from our realtor on Wednesday that the first buyer and seller were able to work things out with the inspection and the deal was going to go through.  So we were pretty bummed.  I had an office event that night and wasn't checking my phone and emails.  As I left the event, I saw an email from our realtor telling us that the house didn't appraise for what the first buyers had hoped and that there was still a chance we would get the house. 

Source: google.ca via Roserobin on Pinterest

Talk about a turn of events.  So we became significantly less bummed since there was the chance we could still get the house.  Well at the end of the week, they were able to work things out.  So we didn't get the house after all.  What a roller coaster ride this has been!

And to add insult to injury, we were going to go see a house this afternoon that we were both pretty excited about, but it was mysteriously taken off the market--it wasn't sold, just removed from the market altogether (after only being on for a week).  Lovely.  Just lovely.

So I am pretty disappointed now and am just trying to be patient.  Although, I may possibly be the most impatient person in the world (ask my husband), so that's not an overly easy task for me.  Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement in my last update.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that future house updates are much more positive!

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend.  Happy Monday! 
  

Wallpapered Powder Rooms + a Feature.

I always find myself drawn to rooms with bold wallpaper.  Even though I am not adventurous enough to do an entire room in a bold pattern, I would totally do a small powder room.  Here are some of my favorite wallpapered powder rooms.

Source: bhg.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: marcusdesigninc.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Emily on Pinterest

Source: highstreetmarket.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: hazardousdesign.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: plushpalate.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: cherishtoronto.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest

What are your thoughts on a bold powder room?  Do you think guests appreciate its awesomeness?  

----------------------------

And last but certainly not least, our home is being featured on 6th Street Design School today!  Thanks so much Kirsten for the feature.  It's extra special -- especially since we miss the house so much!   

Happy Friday!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

House Hunters.

It's been a while since I provided y'all with a house update.  Feel free to skip the post entirely if you just want to know when our bags our packed and we're moving.  Unfortunately, we're not quite there yet.  So while this post may be dry, I want to document the house hunting experience (maybe more for me than for my readers).

A couple of weeks ago on our way to the airport to head to Boulder, we stopped by a house that had come on the market the day before in our ideal area.  As I mentioned here, 23 other people also looked at the same house the same day.  I have no clue how many people total looked at the house.  There is nothing coming on the market in this particular area, and this confirms that there are a bunch of other buyers who are just queuing up. 

While we were traveling, we were working out the details of our offer with our realtor.  We knew the house was going to be in high demand and we were going to have to ask over asking price.  I don't know exactly how many for sure, but there ended up being somewhere around 10 total offers on the house.  These kind of shenanigans happen on House Hunters on HGTV, not here.  After everyone made their offer, the sellers came back and told everyone to make their final and best offer.  It's so stressful knowing you are bidding against yourself and have no clue what the other potential buyers have offered.  So we resubmitted our offer with a little bit higher price.

Source: Uploaded by user via Christine on Pinterest

We heard a couple of days later that we didn't get the house.  Then the day after that, the sellers' realtor asked if we would consider having a backup contract.  After thinking about it, we said yes.  So this meant that we were the second highest bid and if anything fell through with the first buyer, it would automatically go to us.  We actually had to submit earnest money and an option fee.  So we are technically under contract with this arrangement (as a backup contract).   

Our realtor told us, before we even out in our revised offer, that many times the highest bidder in a multiple offer situation won't get the house because they feel the need to ask the seller to make everything perfect after the inspection.  I guess they think if they beat out all of those other people, they are entitled to everything being in tip-top shape.  So while we weren't overly hopeful, we knew there could be a chance we could still end up with the house.

Well the option period for the first buyer ended this weekend.  And if anything was going to fall apart, it likely would have after the inspections last week (and before the end of the option period).  So since we hadn't heard anything, we figured the house wasn't meant to be ours.  Then this afternoon, we get an email and the first buyer and the seller mutually agreed to extend the option period a couple of days because there were some "issues" with the inspection.  I didn't even think of that possible scenario occurring. 

But the good news is that it means that there is still a chance!  Every time I think I wish it would just be over--even if it's bad news--I guess it's better to be in limbo and there still be the potential to get the house than nothing at all.  But in the meantime, you can pretty much find me looking like this.     

Source: weedingyourwriting.blogspot.com via Sarah's on Pinterest

Hopefully I will be back with an update (one way or the other) in the next couple of days.

Lucite Coffee Table.

Happy Friday! 

I have been totally loving lucite recently.  In particular, a lucite coffee table.  It's a piece that's so versatile and goes with any design style.  See what I mean?   

Source: decorpad.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Emily on Pinterest

Source: decorpad.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: smallshopstudio.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: elementsofstyleblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: decorpad.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: lilacandgrey.com via Emily on Pinterest

There's one at cb2 I've been checking out.  Do you love lucite too?